Napped hat with short velure nap.



P. J. MUHLFELD.

NAPPED HAT WITH SHORT VELURB NAP.

APPL IOATION FILED JUNE 10,1913.

Patented Nov. 17, 1 914.

FRANK J. MUHLFELD ATENT QFFKQ,

, 01E NEW YORK, N. Y.

NAPPEI) HAT WITH SHORT VELURE NAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Original application filed January 20, 1811, Serial No. 603,696. Divided and this application filed .Tune 10. 1918. Serial No. 772,734.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK J. lSIUHLrELD, a citizen of the United States, residing at 80.3 (.rotona Park North, New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Napped Hats with Short elure Nap, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present application is a division of my application No. 603,696 filed January 20, 1911 and allowed December 11, 1912 for improvements in the art of making velure hatbodies by napping, in which I have claimed a process of making napped hats with a short dense pile resembling the nap on velure-brush-hats. The present application claims the product therein described.-

T he present invention consists of a napped hat-body and a napped hat having a. close shortly piled velure nap, of fibers different from the substance of the felted body.

Heretofore, the socalled velure hats which have a short nap, like velvet or plush, have been produced by felting a suitable hatbody and raising a nap from the fibers of ,the body itself by stifiiy brushing the felt.

Sush brushing draws out and loosens some of the fibers, thus forming a short nap or pile which is afterward clipped to make fibers of uniform length, and such velure hats having the pile made by brushing, possess a close dense nap which gives a velvety appearance to the finished article. Such a nap is distinguished from that upon ordinary napped hats in two respects, first, it is of the same substance as the felted body, and second. its length is a mere fraction of that produced by ordinary nap ing fibers.

In making a silky nap by brushing, it is evident the nap that is thus raised is a art of the felted body, and it is the object o the present invention to furnish an article in which the felted hat-body can be of cheaper material than the nap; thus reducing the cost.

Felted hat-bodies are formed of fur that is carroted or treated with nitrate of mercury to make the fibers mat close together into a dense substance. but napping must be efiectcd with uncarroted fibers, which are incapable of felting, as the fibers are only met ed in the felted hat-body and the projecting portions must be entirely loose and se arate from one another, so as to produce a exible coating upon the felt. The uncarroted napping fibers are first formed into a soft layer, called a nap-bat, which is then a plied to the previously felted hat-body and pressed or stuck thereon with a damp cloth or by vibratory pressure; the nan-bat and previously felted hat-body are then rolled in a felting-cloth di ped in scaldin water and pressed and rol ed to work the ase-ends of the napping-fibers into the substance of the felted body so as to root theni therein. \Vhen the napping is concluded, the felt is beaten and combed to dislod e any fibers which have not become roote in the felt, and to loosen the free ends of the fibers which are rooted.

o produce with napping fibers, a dense short nap resembling that upon a velure hat, has been heretofore found impructicable'for several reasons; partly because the napping fibers are very much longer than those which form the short vclure nap, and in clipping such fibers when rooted in the hat-body to produce a short nap, the greater part of the valuable material is cut off and not utilized, as such nap does not exceed one-quarter of an inch in length; and partly, because it has been found in practice that when long fibers are rooted in the felt by napping, they are when clipped close to the felt, insufiicient in number to form a dense velvety nap thereon, but permit the felt body to be visible through and between the fibers to a greater or less extent, thus detracting seriously from the appearance of the hat.

I have discovered, as set forth in my application, No. 603,696, that it is possible to r0- duce a dense short nap, such as is desircd by cutting the fibers to materially shorten them before napping and again clipping them after they are rooted in the hat-body. By using fibers of, for instance, half the usual length, the fibers are made stifi'er and are, more readily than long fibers, pushed into the felt and rooted therein during the napping operation. Moreover, by using shortened fibers the great loss of fibers which is common during the scalding and beating steps of the napping operation is almost entirely avoided, because the ends of the short fibers do not become entangled like the ends of long fibers in the process of napping, and

the loose fibers which are removed by the beating operation will not therefore pull with them fibers which have penetrated-into the hat-body. My former application'also disclrsed that I may further increase the proportion of fur-fibers to the square inch of the body-felt by stretching the body-felt before it is nappcd, and allowing it to shrink during the napping operation. The nap-bat when stuck to the hat-body is shrunk with the body, and the fibers rooted therein are concentrated upon a smaller area, which increases their density as desired.

To distinguish my new articles of manufacture clearly from prior constructions, I have illustrated my present application with the same drawings that are shown in my former application, and made claim herein to the felted hat having rooted therein clipped raw fur-fibers sufiiciently near together to form a close velvety nap resembling in appearance the nap on a brush-velure hat.

In the drawing, Figure 1 shows asection of a completely felted hat-body in conical form; Fig. 2 shows the same with means applied to its edge to stretch it to fiat form; Fig. 3 is an edge view, and Fig. 4 a plan of the hat-body stretched into flat form. Fig. 5 is a plan of a nap-bat made of sectional fibers; Fig. 6 is a cross-section of the hatbody with a nap-bat applied thereto; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the hat-body restored to conical form with the short nap upon its outer side- Fig. 8 shows a hat made from the body of Fig. 7.

Fig. 1 shows a conlcal hat-body a, which is represented in Fig. 2 stretched nearly fiat by tongs a, and a ter the body is reduced to a flat form as at 0, a bat e or raw fur, shown in Fig. 5, is laid upon the hat-bodyand stuck in the usual manner so thatthe hat-body and bat assume the relation shown in Fi 6. As the bat is of uniform thickness, the at-body receives on all parts of the surface, substantially the same number of fur-fibers to the square inch. Such hat-body and bat are then' subjected to the usual sticking and scalding operations to insert' the napping fibers into the felted hat-body, and the body is aided and permitted to shrink back into a substantially conical form such as it possessed before stretching, thus increasing. the density of the nap upon each unit of area. A napped hat-body f thus produced is shown in Fig. 7. Such body is then blocked to any suitable shape, as shown in Fig. 8, and thenapping fibers then trimmedto even length by a clipping machine. After clipping, the hat has the appearance of a brush-velure hat, because the raw fur-fibers which have become rooted closely together have, by such clipping operation, been leveled so as to exten substantially to even length above the surface of the hat-body.

' As pointed out above, the density of the nap upon the finished hat may be increased by stretching the hat-body prior to napping,

and shrinking it after napping approxiavoid much of the stretching of the napped hat-body, which is necessary when blocking a flat hat-body. The article thus produced is distinguished from ordinary napped hat bodies, by the followingcharacteristics. First. The hat has a dense coating of naping fibers rooted in a previously felted hatody and forming a closely clipped, velvety nap thereon resembling in ap earance the nap on a brush-velure hat. econd. Such hat has a short closely piled velure nap of fibers different from the substance of the felted body. Third. Such a napped hat (resembling in appearance a velure hat) has a. great increase in the number of fibers per unit of area above the number that is normally rooted when full length fibers are used, and is thus'readily distinguished from any hat napped with full length fibers.

It will be understood from the above description, that the hat claimed herein, whilev it resembles a brush-velure hat in outward appearance, difiers therefrom in material and structure, in that it has a nap ed hatbody, and napping fibers compose of raw fur rooted therein and covering the surface of the body so'as to form a dense velvety nap thereon; the appearance of such napped hat being due to the fact that the napped fibers are not only clipped after napping, but are more numerous per unit of area than would be the case had substantially full length fibers been used.

The value of the final clippin operation becomes ap arent only after t e fact is recognized t at the raw fur-fibers are more.

numerous per unit of area in a hat-body napped as described above than in a hatbody napped in the usual manner.

Where in the claims I speak of short sectional fibers, I mean fibers so rooted that they are more numerous er unit of area than would be the case if the same hat-body were mapped in the usual manner with fibers havin substantially their full length. I find t at in order to have the nap resemble that of a brush-velure hat the fibers should project from the felted body to a distance of not more than approximately oneuarter of an inch, although the distance w ich I prefer, as usually giving better results with a hat made as above described, is less than one-quarter of an inch.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1; As a new article of manufacture, a napped hat comprisin having rooted therein short sectional clip ed fur-fibers sufliciently near together to orm a close velvety nap resembhn in appearance. the nap on a brush velure iat, substantially as herein described.

9 As a new "article of manufacture, a napped hat comprising a felted hat body having rooted therein short sectional clipped raw fur-fibers sufiiciently near together to form a close velvety nap resembling in appearance the nap on a brushvelure hat, and difi'ering froln the substance a felted hat-body of the felted body, substantially as herein described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a

nap d hat comprising a felted hat-body 2o ma e of wool having rooted therein short sectional clipped raw fur-fibers sufliciently near together to form a close velvety nap resemblingin a pearance'the nap on a brushvelure hat, su stantially as herein described. 25

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing 

